Warfare in Brevoy
Maintaining a large standing army of professional, full-time troops is prohibitively expensive and rallying such a force is seen as an act of aggression which can push rival realms to war. Like most nations, Brevoy doesn't maintain a large standing force, finding it cheaper to simply muster the local militia when the need arises. The rotating draft of citizens serving as guards keeps the towns, borders, and roads sufficiently patrolled to quell most daily trouble. Besides the few professional soldiers that serve as elite bodyguards, a full-time fighter can find experience, gold, and glory by joining the Swordlord academy or signing up with a mercenary company and hunting down outlaws. Structure Brevoy's official fighting forces bear some semblance to a feudal system. The king commands the lords of the noble families, who in turn command lesser, often related, nobles (knights, referred to as "bogatyrs"), who themselves command citizen militia. The clergy of Gorum serve as advisors, tacticians, healers, and chaplains in war. Soldiers are traditionally paid by the spoils of war (looting the bodies and fortifications of their enemies). Gear The gear that a warrior wears typically depends on financial circumstances. When a citizen serves in the guard, they are issued a sword or axe, bow, and set of leather armor that becomes their responsibility to maintain and train with. Wealthier citizens purchase better equipment with personal funds, including metal armor (studded leather, chain or scale-mail are favored). Heavier armors are uncommon, not only due to the prohibitive cost, but also because the people of Brevoy favor mobility. It is customary to wear a sword on one's belt, especially when dressed formally, travelling (for self-defense), or out on the town, but axes, spears, pikes, pole-axes, maces, hammers, sickles, scythes, and clubs are also popular weapons, as are bows. Daggers are, of course, ubiquitous, being used for any number of tasks in daily life besides combat, from peeling a vegetable to cutting a rope to proper length. Mounted warriors are more common in the rolling plains of Restov, where their horses offer them the greatest advantage, and typically favor sabers, lances, and shortbows. Values and Traditions Honor, courage, duty, and ruthless cunning are valued as virtues in time of war. Many folk songs and battle-hymns celebrate the daring charges, grim last stands, brilliant stratagems, and star-crossed wartime romances of common soldiers as well as famous heroic commanders. These songs are typically sung as troops head off to battle (to motivate and inspire them), or on days of victory celebrations. Many aristocratic Brevic commanders have earned infamy for their callous meatgrinder tactics, thus fostering an ever-widening gap of resentment between the nobility and the common citizenry. Brevic military conflicts are often marked by heavy (some would say senseless) casualty counts. As a result, it is typically the strongest, fastest, toughest, and smartest men that survive the crucible of Brevic war (women serve as well, but are not conscripted, and thus are present in lower numbers). When these men come home from war, they often find themselves outnumbered by the women of their generation, leading bachelors to pick either the prettiest maiden of their village to marry, or (in cases where a soldier is wealthy enough), group marriage. This forced form of "natural selection" has resulted in a not-too inaccurate stereotype of Brevic men as hardy badasses and Brevic women as enchantigly beautiful. Laws and Customs of War As with all things Brevic, there are strict customs to be adhered to, even in the chaos of war. Many of these spring from cultural and religious ideals, but as often are simple matters of cynical pragmatism for which Brevans are known. Orders Obviously, immediate obedience to a commanding officer's orders is demanded, and acts of insubordination are almost always swiftly punished with a battlefield execution by a commissar. Surrender If a surrender is offered, it must be accepted. A continuation of hostilities, by either the giver or the recipient of a surrender is considered extremely dishonorable and results in the execution of the offender by the next highest authority. Prisoners of War Prisoners of war are often put to work to fixing the damage they caused (except in the case of a captured noble that is often held as a hostage to negotiate an end to hostilities, exchanged for another prisoner, or ransomed back to their family). Such indentured labor (viewed as a natural cost of going to war, and not as slavery) typically includes repair of structures, farmwork, and mining. At the end of hostilities, those still alive are free to return to their homes. While not officially mandated by the state, it is seen as pious and merciful by the various churches to offer healing and sustenance to captured enemy combatants. Collateral Damage The church of Abadar, wielding the strongest religious influence in Brevoy, deeply frowns upon excessive collateral damage, as this is detrimental to trade, prosperity, and the advancement of civilization. Thus, while the destruction of military targets (enemy combatants, siege engines, fortifications) is acceptable (and encouraged by the church of Gorum), laying waste to perfectly good civilian targets (non-combatants, houses, hospitals, shops, production facilities, etc) is seen as wasteful barbarism and is punished by Abadar's clergy as a war crime. "Why put your foe's town to the torch? For a fleeting moment's gloating? Fool! Even if you conquer it, you'll then have to rebuild it from your own pocket to make it useful again, and that's money better spent elsewhere. Wanton destruction shows not might, but feeble-minded inferiority to the hard-working hands that labored to build that which you so hastily tear down. He who sows naught but destruction is like a cruel child pulling the legs off of insects, and shall be punished with emptiness of pocket and stomach. The Lord of the First vault disdains the impulsive folly of warlords, but true empire-builders, he rewards with wisdom and long dynasties. So it is judged." - from a standard Abadaran sermon to military commanders Women in War Women are not barred from combat service (although it is not required of them for the obvious reason that women are the only ones who can bear children), but are typically outnumbered by men (who are conscripted), and tend to serve in special divisions such as scout-snipers (they are believed to have better eye-hand coordination, and the burlier men are typically used as melee combatants), siege engineers (their smaller hands are believed to be better at working intricate machinery), convoy drivers (their smaller form means that more cargo can be packed onto the wagon), and magical support (commonly as adepts, druids, sorceresses, or witches). Naturally, those inclined to less combat-oriented positions can always find employment as nurses. On the homefront, women find themselves in more positions of leadership over their households and communities when their men get conscripted into an army. In such times, groups of two or more women whose husbands have gone to war commonly shack up together to enjoy the comfort of each other's companionship. Camp Followers War creates opportunity for those who know how to find it, and anytime troops are on the march, you can be sure that keenly-business-minded Brevans will be tagging along to provide services such as companionship, healing, couriering, and trade. From Hirelings into the Wild: Unlike more traditional hirelings, a camp follower is not hired to come along, but rather tags along on her own. PCs will need to pay for any individual services they want, but so long as they don’t chase away these largely-autonomous hangers-on, camp followers will be available to provide goods and services somewhere nearby. Companionship: Camp followers historically fill two major roles, the best-remembered of which is companionship. While this often involves intercourse, it just as often involves providing a sympathetic ear or a warm body to hold in the night. Typically, a clean companion for the night runs 1sp, while less savory or professional encounters can be as cheap at 2cp. Naleksa charges 2sp, but makes liberal use of cantrips to justify the expense. A night’s companionship relieves stress and allows a character to recover two points of ability damage to mental attributes per night of rest. Healing: The second traditional role of a camp follower is field medic. Most know the basics of first aid, and many are well-versed on inexpensive herbal medicine*. A camp follower can provide any applications of the Heal skill for 3sp, though their reluctance to enter combat means they rarely apply first aid. Marketer: In the field, coin isn't always available. Camp followers inevitably gather eclectic collections of gear and trade items as payment for their services. At the GM’s discretion, a camp follower may be treated as a Thorp-sized community for determining the GP limit of trade items and mundane items she has available for sale or trade. A camp follower’s prices are 10% higher than standard due to scarcity. Any equipment purchased is limited by the follower’s carrying capacity unless she owns a mount, wagon, or other transport. * Healers have long extolled the use of various plants and herbal concoctions in treating all manner of ailments. GMs who wish to incorporate healing herbs into their games might allow characters with ranks in Heal and Survival to spend a day in the wilderness searching for helpful healing plants. Making a DC 15 Survival check results in the discovery of a useful bundle of herbs. The character finds another bundle for every 2 points by which the check exceeds 15. Using such an herb grants the healer a +1 circumstance bonus on a Heal check made to treat a disease.